30 Nov Helicopter Children – By Barbara Rives

Posted at 08:55h in Senior Living by Bruce Freides

Helicopter Parents have taken a bad rap lately for enabling their children to remain dependent upon them for life. Here at Park Springs we have an epidemic of Helicopter Children, hovering over us when we are so certain of our own good sense that we don’t always appreciate their efforts.

While we love complaining about this hovering, we secretly are pleased by the results of comparing our kids to those of others. Our conversations are rife with referrals to my daughter “who threw away all my winter clothes and bought me new ones” or my son “who took my car to get it washed when it didn’t even need it.”

The real nitty gritty of the problem is the brazen attempts by our children to run our lives for us. Most of these controversies involve our car and the care of our pets. Our creative skullduggery usually includes hiding an extra set of car keys when they have brazenly confiscated the other set and being less than forthright about the large purple facial bruise acquired while walking the sometimes overly frisky dog.

What they don’t realize is that we consider life not worth living without our car and our dog. As long as we can hold onto these necessities, we will accept any other punishment they can mete out.

The author, Mrs. Barbara Rives, has been a Member of Park Springs, Atlanta’s premier retirement community, since 2004.

Print page